Explore MOL’s FSRU Bauhinia Spirit with Bureau Veritas

From its mooring off the coast of Hong Kong, MOL’s floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) “Bauhinia Spirit” is helping provide lower-carbon electricity to the region.

Having visited the vessel in November, Matthieu de Tugny, Executive Vice President, BV Marine & Offshore, takes us behind-the-scenes onboard this ocean giant.

My visit to this year’s Hong Kong Maritime Week was made all the more special with the chance to visit the Bauhinia Spirit. Owned and operated by MOL, she is the largest in the world, boasting a 263,000 m3 in capacity and a remarkable 345 m in length. Originally constructed in 2017 by DSME  as the MOL FSRU Challenger, she recently underwent upgrades in Singapore to further increase its regasification capacity prior to deployment.

The Bauhinia Spirit is currently chartered by Hong Kong LNG Terminal Limited, a joint venture of Hong Kong’s two power companies – Castle Peak Power Company Limited and The Hong Kong Electric Co., Ltd. (HK Electric) – to store and regasify LNG.  Located south of Lantau Island and east of the Soko Islands, since June this year the FSRU has received LNG to be regasified and sent ashore. Traveling via two pipelines to Black Point Power Station of CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and Lamma Power Station of HK Electric, the natural gas is then used to replace coal burning in electricity generation – and thus helps produce lower-carbon energy.

Preparing to board

The Bureau Veritas team traveled out to see the Bauhinia Spirit mooring at a purpose-built offshore LNG terminal in the western area of Hong Kong waters. Each of us knew how fortunate we were to have this chance. The visit had taken a high level of coordination – one does not simply visit the FSRU. Special permissions were needed – and duly granted by MOL – to coordinate the launch transfer and ensure the viability of security protocols.

From left to write: Alex Gregg-Smith SVP, North Asia, BV, Ryokichi Asai, Managing Director, MOL - Hong Kong, Nick Brown, Corporate Affairs Director, BV, Yoshikazu Kondo, General Manager Offshore Technical Division, MOL - Tokyo, Matthieu de Tugny, BV and Yasuyuki Ohta, MOL FSRU Terminal - General Manager, Hong Kong 

We were also fortunate with the weather, with clear blue skies and maximum temperatures of 25°C to see us on our way. The FSRU is required to leave the terminal and head for open water in swells of over two meters, a particularly important safeguard against typhoons and monsoons. Even though we were well outside of typhoon season and the ocean conditions were perfect, had we visited just a day later, the strong winds and waves forecasted would have forced us to cancel as the FSRU was preparing to unberth from the terminal and move offshore.

The experience demonstrated that even for a large, moored asset, access is not always easy. In the field with clients from day to day, our surveyors must therefore be flexible. With weather impacting operations, arrival and departure, and boarding safety, visiting an anchorage or isolated terminal is beset with complexity.

Into the heart of FSRU operations

Dressed in full protective equipment, including gas detectors and anti-static boiler suits, and accompanied by other visiting contractors on the launch, we set off on our visit guided by the MOL team and crew.

The Bauhinia Spirit has five regasification units to bring the cryogenic and liquid cargo to a gaseous state to be piped ashore. Our first stop, led by the FSRU’s Chief Officer, was to see the cargo handling systems. From there we moved on to the bridge and then the engine room, before going over the deck with the LNG tanks beneath us, to see the cargo handling arrangements, ship-to-ship systems and the gas pipes that go ashore.

I always look forward to getting to the heart of a vessel with a visit to the engine room. And the Bauhinia Spirit’s was certainly impressive, with two ABB AC 6,600V electric motors powered by four MAN 9L51/60 dual fuel generators that provide more than 9MW per unit. But the real highlight for me during this trip was the time spent with our partners at MOL and the Bauhinia Spirit crew. There’s just no substitute for being onboard spending time with the people who make it all happen.

At Bureau Veritas, we are of course proud to support our clients in ensuring safety – from design and construction throughout operation. But we know it is our clients who show courage and ingenuity when investing in and operating a new design.

We are deeply grateful to the MOL team for their warm welcome and inspirational tour. With so much conversation around the drive towards lower-carbon energy, we’re proud to stand by the side of the crew of the Bauhinia Spirit as they put words into action.